The Party of No

Jeffrey H. Anderson

May 26, 2011 9:01 AM

Yesterday, the budget proposed by the House of Representatives was put up for a vote in the Senate. Every Democratic senator (save one, who was absent) voted no. Subsequently, a budget proposed by Senator Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) was put up for a vote. Every Democratic senator voted no. Then a budget proposed by Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) was put up for a vote. Every Democratic senator voted no.

In between, the budget proposed by President Obama was put up for a vote. This, presumably, was the budget that Democratic senators would embrace: the budget of their own party’s sitting president. Instead, every Democratic senator voted no.

In addition, one would have expected the Senate majority to have proposed a budget of its own by this time. But the Democratic majority decided, no; there’s no need. Last year, the Senate Democrats decided the same thing.

So, in all, Democratic senators have had five chances to embrace a budget. They have unanimously rejected four proposals and have failed to produce a fifth.

House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan’s budget, the first budget that the Democratic senators rejected, passed the House by a margin of 42 votes. Of the 189 Democratic representatives who voted on that budget, 189 voted no.